The rewards of that Kickstarter have been delivered to our backers a few months ago. Now, we're ready - with your support - to bring the game to the next level, with two boxed expansions unified by “The Earth Strikes Back” storyline - featuring the counter-attack of the defenders of the Earth against the Alien invaders.

You will also receive two exclusive miniatures - Niobium and Tritium - available only to the backers of this project.

(Supporters do not receive any physical reward).

If we are successful above and beyond our funding goal, we have also planned a lot of stretch goals, many of them available only to our backers.
If you missed to support our first Kickstarter, or you did not pick up a copy at your favorite store yet, you can choose the Galaxy pledge level - you will receive the Galaxy Defenders Core Setand the Elite Alien Army expansion, as well as the new expansions.

Galaxy Defenders is now available, so there is a lot of information you can find to understand if this game is for you! Here is a brief summary to help you decide.

In Galaxy Defenders up to five players fight together – each taking control of one or more agents with unique powers – to defend the planet from an alien invasion. The Aliens are controlled by a sophisticated, card-driven artificial intelligence system. The battle against the aliens develops in a series of missions, organized in a story-driven campaign.

Tutorials, unboxing and reviews are available on Boardgamegeek.com. Here are a couple of favorites, a review by Voice of E and a gameplay video by Tragictheblathering!

We also sent out some prototypes of the two expansions featured in this Kickstarter to independent reviewers. If you are curious to have a preview of what they add to the gameplay, check the exciting preview by TragicTheBlathering....

Our miniatures do not require any assembly - The game is ready-to-play out of the box. Painting them is optional: agents are grey, aliens are in colored plastic, so you don't need to paint them if you don't want to.

In this second season of our project, our figures become even more detailed and dynamic – take a look at the images below for a preview of the state-of-the-art miniatures created by our sculptor.

Power Armor miniatures from Extinction Protocol

A selection of figures from Operation Strikeback

A selection of figures from Extinction Protocol

A Guide To Pledges

Our first Kickstarter was very successful - but a bit too complex in structure. We are trying to make thing simpler this time. We streamlined the pledge levels to four "color-coded" main choices:

GREEN: Do you want to avoid missing the Exclusive Figures?Choose the Gd Lab level. Also good for backers who want to do a smaller pledge now, and upgrade to a higher level (with the Pledge manager) later!

BLUE: Do you want the new Expansions and the KS Exclusive figures as rewards, but want to keep your pledge at the minimum? Choose the Earth level. Stretch goals for the Earth level are coded in Blue.

RED: Do you want everything that's included in this Kickstarter, at a great discount, without headaches about which options to add? Choose the Moon level. You will receive all the rewards of the Earth level (Blue), all the Options (Red). Stretch goals for the Moon level are also coded in Red, but you also receive all the Blue stretch goals, too.

PURPLE: Do you want to join this Kickstarter but you don't own a Galaxy Defenders Core Set yet? Choose the Galaxy level. You will receive all the rewards of the Moon level (Red and Blue), all stretch goals, and on top of that, you will also receive the Galaxy Defenders Core Set and Elite Alien Army. The Core Set and Elite Alien Army are expected to ship to Galaxy backers in August, 2014.

To help you understand the value of your rewards, note that:

The suggested retail price of Operation: Strikeback is expected to be $ 75.00

The suggested retail price of Extinction Protocol is expected to be $ 85.00

he value of the Options included in the Moon and Galaxy pledge is now $ 220.00 and increases as additional goals are achieved, as indicated by the banner below.

Summing up, the total value of the rewards in the Moon pledge level is now more than $ 380.00 - and more than $ 500.00 in the Galaxy pledge level.

This is the total value of the options currently offered, and included in the Moon and Galaxy pledge levels, excluding the value of the Expansions and Tritium and Niobium.

Once you have decided the pledge level you want, and offered your pledge, it's not necessary to modifiy it again during the campaign, unless you want to switch to a different level. After the campaign, you will be able to increase your pledge and add extra options using our pledge manager.

Remember that an additional amount for shipping costs (see below) may be required to ship your rewards. It's not necessary to add it to the pledge now- shipping can be paid after the end of the Kickstarter, using the pledge manager.

All options listed here are included with the rewards that our backers at the Moon or Galaxy pledge levels will receive automatically.

If you are a Gd-Lab or Earth-level backer, you may still add options to your rewards, if you want! You do not need to do anything right now. It's not necessary to add any extra amount to your pledge. You will be able to add more options to your rewards after the Kickstarter ends, using our Pledge Manager (the link will be given to backers after the Kickstarter ends).

Moon or Galaxy backers will also be able to add options using the Pledge manager, if they want extra copies of any of them!

If this project exceeds its funding, we will be able to improve your rewards with additional contents ("Stretch Goals"), The Stretch Goals added to your rewards are based on your pledge level, as indicated by their color:

Blue – granted to pledge levels Earth and above

Red – granted to pledge levels Moon and Above

We also use the following “GD code” as a guide to the type of stretch goal.

The next Stretch Goals to unlock are indicated at the top of the page. As we unlock them, they will be added to the list below.

Special Bonus Goals

The Kickstarter system does not recognize your location. For this reason, the minimum pledge presented by Kickstarter does not include the shipping costs of your rewards, as they vary by country.

It is not necessary to add the shipping cost to your pledge now. We will ask you this additional amount when you confirm your address, using our pledge manager after the end of the Kickstarter.

Shipping physical rewards all around the world is very expensive. Please note that Ares Games' actual cost for shipping out your rewards is higher than what we are asking you here. On average, we ask you to contribute about 50% of the actual cost.

Based on the experience of our previous Kickstarters, we will organize the shipment of the rewards to be "EU-friendly". Shipments within the European Union will not have to clear customs.

Backers in North, Central, South America will receive the rewards from our warehouse in the US.

Backers in Europe (both EU and non-EU countries), will receive the rewards from our warehouse in Germany.

Backers in other countries may receive the shipment from either warehouse. Custom charges may apply to your shipment as required by your local regulations.

Shipping Costs by Country

America:

USA: No additional shipping cost

Canada and Mexico: $ 29.00

Any Other Country: $ 55.00

Europe:

Germany: $ 19.00 (including VAT)

Any other EU country: $ 29.00 (including VAT)

European Countries (non-EU): $ 35.00

Rest of the World:

Australia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Japan: $ 49.00

Any Other Country: $ 55.00

The development and pre-production of "Operation Strikeback" and "Extinction Protocol" are now almost complete. The main sculpting and art has alread been commissioned and funded by Ares Games and Gremlin Project.

The minimum funding level for the project will enable us to fully fund the remaining stages of the pre-production (mostly the creation of the moulds necessary for the production of the figures) and the production of the rewards.

The success of this Kickstarter will also allow Ares Games to properly fund additional developments of this product line above and beyond what is outlined here, including new items to be added as Stretch Goals.

As a benefit to the backers, the game will ship to backers before anybody else, at a good discount in comparison to the suggested retail price. The items indicated as "Kickstarter Exclusives" will only be available to our backers.

Risks and challenges

"The Earth Strikes Back" is our third Kickstarter project. We already fully delivered two Kickstarters - Sails of Glory and Galaxy Defenders - successfully and with a very positive feedback from our backers.

Creating a high-quality boardgame with miniatures is not an easy challenge. However, Ares Games has an excellent track record of publishing games with high-end components, such as our War of the Ring game and our Wings of Glory miniature line.

Our staff has a strong experience in producing games with ready-to-play miniatures and a wide range of different components, and we don't envision any specific challenge associated to the production of this project.

The products offered in this Kickstarter are fully developed from the point of view of their gameplay. The main art is completed and the sculpting is about 90% completed.

The main risk at this stage is that the project might be delayed, during the remaining stages of the production pipeline, with respect to its scheduled date. We will prefer a reasonable delay to compromising on the level of quality we are looking for in our games in general, and in this product specifically,

There are also risks of delays, as with any game product with Asia-based manufacturing, associated to transport and delivery to our warehouse in the United States. These are also routinely handled by our logistic staff, but unexpected delays due to customs clearance, strikes, exceptional weather are always possible, and they may influence the time necessary to deliver the games to our customers.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $560 or more
About $560

Earth Defender (Retailers Only) - This level receives six times the rewards of the Earth level: 6 copies of "Operation Strikeback", 6 copies of "Extinction Protocol", 6 copies of the Niobium and Tritium KS Exclusive Miniatures, 6 copies of the Earth-level stretch goals.
***** Proof of retailer status is required.
*****
Shipping outside of the USA not included. Please enquiry about the shipping cost to your address before you pledge.